Aging Out Ceremony

A scout recently earned his Eagle and has now aged out of the troop at 18. We've had some challenges with our scouts maintaining their patrol equipment and it caused some unnecessary expenses last year.
I discussed this with the Eagle to see if he had any ideas. He did!

At his last troop meeting as a scout, he carried his patrol box and tent to the front of the troop. He told the scouts that this would be his last meeting as a scout. He was the last scout left from his original patrol and he wanted to return the gear he had been given when he started.
He asked the troop Quartermaster to come and join him. He handed the tent over and thanked the Quartermaster for letting him use it for 7 years. He said it was pretty worn out, but the troop might use it for demonstrations.
He gave his patrol box to the Quartermaster and said he had just checked the inventory list and everything was accounted for except paper towels and a scrubbie. He said some of the pots were dented and one of the plastic spatulas was melted, but the rest should be fine for the next group of scouts.
The Quartermaster thanked him and took the gear to the back of the room while the rest of the troop applauded.

It was a simple thing that said a lot. It showed that a scout should be responsible for his gear and the gear can really last through an entire scouting career. It made an impact on the younger scouts. Whether it will make a difference or not will be seen over the next couple years, but I hope to see similar short presentations by the scouts that age out over the coming year.

Scout On